TL;DR — Quick Summary

Typst is a modern markup-based typesetting system for academic papers, reports, and documents. Faster compilation, simpler syntax, and real-time preview compared to LaTeX.

Typst is what document typesetting looks like when designed from scratch for the modern era. Where LaTeX requires arcane incantations for basic formatting, Typst uses clean, readable markup that compiles to PDF in milliseconds.

Installation

# macOS
brew install typst

# Arch Linux
sudo pacman -S typst

# Cargo
cargo install --locked typst-cli

# Verify
typst --version

Quick Start

Create document.typ:

= My First Document

This is a paragraph with *bold* and _italic_ text.

== Section One

A numbered list:
+ First item
+ Second item
+ Third item

A bullet list:
- Item A
- Item B

== Math

The quadratic formula: $ x = (-b plus.minus sqrt(b^2 - 4a c)) / (2a) $

An inline equation: $E = m c^2$ is famous.

== Table

#table(
  columns: 3,
  [*Name*], [*Age*], [*City*],
  [Alice], [30], [NYC],
  [Bob], [25], [London],
)

Compile:

typst compile document.typ    # → document.pdf
typst watch document.typ      # Auto-recompile on save

Key Syntax

Syntax Result
= Heading Level 1 heading
== Subheading Level 2 heading
*bold* bold
_italic_ italic
`code` code
$ math $ Inline math
$ math $ (block) Display math
@label Citation/reference
#function() Scripting

Academic Features

// Bibliography
#bibliography("refs.bib")

// Citation
As shown by @author2024, the results...

// Figure with caption
#figure(
  image("plot.png", width: 80%),
  caption: [Experimental results],
) <fig:results>

// Cross-reference
See @fig:results for details.

// Footnote
This needs clarification#footnote[See appendix A].

Comparison

Feature Typst LaTeX Word Markdown
Compile speed ~ms seconds-min N/A ~ms
Math support Excellent Excellent Good Limited
Bibliography Built-in BibTeX/Biber Built-in Pandoc
Templates Growing Massive Many Limited
Learning curve Low High Low Low
Scripting Built-in TeX macros VBA None
Output PDF PDF/DVI DOCX HTML
Web editor typst.app Overleaf Office 365 Various

Summary

  • Typst is a modern LaTeX alternative with millisecond compilation
  • Clean markup syntax: = headings, *bold*, $math$, #functions()
  • Built-in bibliography, citations, figures, tables, and cross-references
  • Scripting language for dynamic content and custom templates
  • Free open-source compiler + free web editor at typst.app